If you use Keynote on Mac, you need to know these essential tips and tricks to make your Keynote presentations stand out. It’s the subtle effects that will set your presentation apart from others using Microsoft PowerPoint or—heaven forbid—a PDF slideshow. PowerPoint Presentation Tips. Don't let PowerPoint decide how you use PowerPoint. Create custom slide sizes. Edit your slide template design. Make sure all of your objects are properly aligned. Use 'Format Menus' to better control your objects' designs. Take advantage of PowerPoint's shapes. Create custom shapes. Crop images into custom shapes.
Is an easy-to-use tool for creating professional presentations whose simplified interface belies its power and capabilities. And, don't let the fact that it's free throw you.
With no licensing costs and native iPhone, iPad, and Mac compatibility, as well as the ability for Windows PC users to view and edit presentations using iCloud on the web, Apple's Keynote application deserves consideration. If you're new to Keynote, or if you're considering replacing Microsoft's PowerPoint with Apple's alternative, here are three keys to maximizing Keynote. SEE: (Tech Pro Research) 1. Master the basics If you're not familiar with Keynote ( Figure A), here's a quick guide to performing the most common presentation actions. Image: Apple Inc. Add a Slide: Click the + icon to add a new slide. Keynote will display a range of new slides, including Title, Title & Bullets, and Photo Horizontal, that can be immediately added to the presentation.
Add Text: Click the Text icon at the top of the Keynote application, move (if required) the new text box, and then click within the text box to begin entering text. Add a Chart: Click the Chart icon at the top of the Keynote application, select the chart design you wish to add, and then configure your chart using the style, options, and customization settings that appear within the Inspector. Add Media: Click the Media icon at the top of the Keynote application, select the photo, music, or movie you wish to insert, and then customize the selection using the corresponding settings Keynote displays within its Inspector. Add a Shape: Click the Shape icon at the top of the Keynote application, select the shape you wish to add, and then configure the arrangement, size, position, and rotation using the customization settings that appear within the Keynote Inspector. Add a Table: Click the Table icon at the top of the Keynote application, select the table design you wish to add, and then customize the table using the styles, headers, footers, font, outline, and other settings Keynote presents within its Inspector. Adjust Fill, Border, Shadow, and Reflection: Click the element in question, click the Style tab within the Inspector pane, and use the fill, border, shadow, and reflection options to customize those elements.
Adjust Slide Order: Move a slide's position within the presentation by ensuring you're using the Navigator view (click View and select Navigator), and then click-and-drag slides to your intended locations. Arrange and Align Elements: Click the element in question, click the Inspector Arrange tab, and customize the arrangement and alignment using the provided buttons and slider boxes. Configure Animation: Click the element to animate, and then select the Inspector's Animate button.
Click Add An Effect to create an animation. Use the provided slider bars and drop-down menus to adjust the selected action, which include dissolves, fly ins, and wipes. Deliver a Presentation Over the Internet: Click the Keynote Live icon at the top of the application (clicking the icon places a copy of the presentation in iCloud, enabling you to share the presentation with other users on a Mac or iOS device or via the web).
Keynote will then walk you through inviting viewers and generate a URL you can provide others to view the presentation. Format Text: Highlight the text to adjust and click the Text tab within the Inspector pane that appears on the right-side of the Keynote screen. Rehearse a Presentation: Click Play from the menu bar and select Rehearse Slideshow. View and Edit Presenter Notes: Click View from the menu bar and select Show Presenter Notes.
Just as in PowerPoint, you can enter speaker's notes within Keynote's bottom pane. SEE: (TechRepublic) 2. Leverage PowerPoint compatibility Keynote is compatible with. If you're creating presentations in collaboration with PowerPoint users, or if you're sending your Keynote file to a PowerPoint user, you can save a Keynote file as a PowerPoint presentation or export the Keynote file as an PowerPoint presentation to minimize trouble. Complete step-by-step instructions for saving a Keynote file in Microsoft's PowerPoint format are available.
Note: While most presentation elements translate well between both platforms, anomalies sometimes arise; for example, OLE objects and image effects may not translate perfectly. For a complete list of compatibility features and behaviors, view the comprehensive Apple maintains on its site. SEE: (TechRepublic) 3. Tap iCloud integration All of Apple's iWork applications—Pages, Numbers, and Keynote—are integrated within iCloud. Apple's iCloud users will find separate directories created by default for storing each application's files. I initially found the iCloud behavior of storing files by default within the corresponding iCloud directory (in this case Keynote) a little presumptuous, as I leverage a variety of storage locations for files.
But as I've increasingly become dependent upon cloud services to share, view, and edit files including presentations using an iPhone, iPad, Mac, and even Windows PC, the feature has proven helpful and saved me time. SEE: (ZDNet) iCloud also enables sharing Keynote files with other iCloud users, including PC users who might otherwise use PowerPoint.
Depending upon the permissions you set, iCloud users can subsequently access and even edit Keynote files using their Apple devices or Windows web browser. You can enable collaboration features when building a presentation by clicking the Collaborate icon at the top of the Keynote application. The Add People window will display, permitting you to use email, Messages, AirDrop, and other sources to send the presentation to others.
You can also configure share permissions, such as specifying whether changes can be made, from within the same Add People window. More tips about Apple Keynote After you master the basics of Apple's Keynote, be sure to by using pre-formatted themes, split view, and the app's media browser.
To my Windows-users readers, I’m trying super-hard (yes, “super-“ in honor of being back at MSFT) to include Windows PowerPoint-applicable features, but at the same time catering to Mac PowerPoint 2011 features. In addition, I’ve thrown in some public speaking tips from doing TechEd conferences. Now that I’ve been on the Mac PowerPoint team for 6 months, I wanted to take some time between work and grad school to blog about some very useful tips and features I didn’t know existed in PowerPoint until I joined the team. Tips contained in this post:. The 5 rules presentation - aka, “wow, you can do that in PPT?! Animations”.
How to Convert SmartArt to Shapes to get the level of customization you need. Presenter View – never have to remember which slide comes next in your presentation. Slide Carousel – never again exit Slide Show to jump to the slide you want. Shift+F5 - The One Start Slide Show Keyboard Shortcut to Rule them all (unless you don’t know about Ctrl+Shift+C – if not, search for this tip in this post right now and come back. Seriously, go now.). ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘W’ key presses in Slide Show. Templates vs Themes – when to use which (and a brief intro to Slide Masters).
How to create keyboard shortcuts for Mac PPT menu commands In the future, I’ll break these posts into smaller, more consumable posts. But to shake off all the dust on my MSDN Blog, I wanted to start with a big post that I’m back. “The 5 Rules” presentation (Mac) If you haven’t seen the “5 rules” presentation yet on Mac PowerPoint, stop reading this blog post and check it out right now.
(yes, I said that earlier about copy-formatting, but I didn’t steer you wrong, did I:) If you are a public speaker looking for something besides the standard bullet-point animation “fade-in,” this presentation will give you lots of ideas. I discovered this “5-rules” presentation while preparing for my interview with the Mac PowerPoint team. I had no idea this was possible in PowerPoint. All those years doing talks with “pretty background picture with large text” or “have bullet points fade in line by line” I could have done something with real animations.
It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to join this team. (That, and the chance to take on Edward Tuff ? You’ll find the “5 rules” on the PowerPoint Presentation Gallery window that appears when you launch Mac PowerPoint under Templates – Guided Methods – Five Rules. Convert Smart Art to Shapes (Windows and Mac) I cannot tell you how many times I’ve started using a SmartArt object, only to delete it and recreate it using individual shapes because I wanted more customizations or to use the SmartArt object as a starting point for something more elaborate. For example, in the SmartArt object below, I want to keep the balance scale, but remove the gray “header” boxes (which I can’t do because it is part of the SmartArt).
Instead of recreating this by hand, you can use SmartArt – Reset – Convert – Convert to Shapes. Now I get the individuals shapes and can now delete the “Regeneration” title boxes. And in Matt’s defense, he’s had a tough couple of acts to follow.
Presenter View (Windows and Mac) Oh Presenter View, why am I just finding out about you now? Okay, to my Windows people, yes, I know Windows PPT has presenter view, but. For Windows PPT 2010 (during my day public speaking), it only worked for me when it was connected to an external monitor. Why is this a big deal? Public speaking, especially giving technical demos, isn’t about getting the talk right. IMHO, it is about how to recover when things fail, because they will fail.
It’s Murphy’s Law at its truest form.